Unemployment Rate by Educational Attainment

On February 4, 2011, the Labor Department reported that the unemployment fell to 9.0% in January. For some perspective on the current state of the labor market, today’s chart illustrates the unemployment rate by educational attainment. As today’s chart illustrates, higher educational attainment has correlated with a lower unemployment rate. For example, the unemployment rate for those that have obtained a bachelor’s degree or greater (blue line) currently stands at 4.2%. While this is much higher than the sub 2% unemployment rate seen as little as a few years ago, it is dramatically lower than the unemployment rate for those with less formal education. For example, the unemployment rate for those who have not completed high school (red line) currently stands at an extremely high 14.2% — more than triple the unemployment rate for those with a bachelor’s degree (or greater). On a positive note, the unemployment rate for each level of educational attainment has moved significantly lower over the past couple months.